Wednesday, July 27, 2011

CERTAIN TEACHINGS ON GIVING

There was a time in my life, prior to becoming a Christian, when I couldn't comprehend the idea of giving a portion of income to a church. I can remember complaining that church leaders seemed to only want to build bigger more elaborate churches. I now look at the same situation, if it exists, with a different point of view. If a congregation desires a larger, more beautiful church, there is nothing wrong in that. A church should be as nice as we can make it because we want to give honor and glory to God.

I believe, as many do, that in everything we should put God first. This brings me to something I wanted to point out in regards to the question of tithing. I enjoy hearing the word of God. I appreciate the fact that I am able to turn on the television or radio and hear ministers speak. I realize that some don't speak, but rather they project their voices loudly, but perhaps they feel a need. Anyway, the thing that concerns me is the way certain ministers approach the subject of "giving." There are some ministers who've become known as "prosperity teachers" and what they often say is "You'll be blessed! If you give this amount, you will be blessed!" Now, I believe in God's law of reciprocity without question. Number one, I believe God wants to be first in our heart. "Love God with all your strength," Jesus said. He also said we should love other people. And I believe without a doubt God knows what is good for us. He doesn't want us to cling to the things of this world. We didn't come in with any of it, and we can't take it out. And when we give of our love, our time, our money, when we let go and generously and joyfully offer what we have, God honors that. In fact if I could give any advice to a young person trying to find their way in this world it would be "Put God first in your life, and just watch what He'll do. He'll open doors you didn't even know existed. God is not limited by any means."

To then finally get to the point I have wanted to make, what I feel about these "prosperity teachers" one objection I have (among several others I am not going to go into at this time) is that they are leaving out the most important part of the teaching, and it is, in part, just what I have stated above. The other thing that occurs to me is that Jesus also said we shouldn't worry about what we will have because God already knows our needs. What I feel he was saying is God doesn't want us to be consumed by these things. It's not that God doesn't want us to have things. He knows we need "things" in life. It's obvious that as long as we are in the flesh we will require food, shelter and such. Jesus pointed out that God takes care of the birds and we're more important to Him than a bird, therefore we can be confident of receiving help. The key is always put your trust in God, beyond anything else. Don't trust in what the world can do for you. When providing a healing for someone the words recorded that Jesus would say were "Your faith has made you well..." We have to have the faith, knowing what God can do. We must remember that God's love is beyond what we can comprehend. He knows what our lives can be. He's waiting for us to reach out for his guidance.